Summary

  • Two pilots have been killed after an Air Canada plane collided with a firefighting vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport

  • The plane, carrying 72 passengers and four crew, initially landed safely from Montreal on Sunday evening - here's how the incident unfolded

  • Some 41 passengers and crew were taken to hospital - all but nine have since been discharged. Two fire truck officers are in a stable condition in hospital

  • "We were 100 metres away... it was like the plane got cut in half", a witness tells the BBC

  • The airport, which is one of the busiest in the US, is expected to remain closed until at least 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT) - what's the latest on travel?

  • Were you on board the Air Canada flight? Have you been affected?Get in touch

  1. Listen to air traffic control audio just before the crashpublished at 14:40 GMT

    Audio from the air traffic control tower at LaGuardia reveals what was said in the seconds before the crash.

    You can hear an air traffic controller giving directions and then all of a sudden they frantically tell a truck to stop repeatedly as beeping goes off. The audio then ends.

    Media caption,

    'Stop, stop, stop': Audio from moments before LaGuardia crash

  2. Tarmac collision is a 'profound tragedy', pilot union sayspublished at 14:15 GMT

    The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has issued a statement describing the fatal incident as a "profound tragedy".

    "These pilots dedicated their careers to the safe transport of passengers, and we are all thinking of their families, loved ones, and colleagues at Jazz Aviation during this devastating time," said Capt. Jason Ambrosi, the association's president.

    “ALPA's accident investigation team is on scene assisting the National Transportation Safety Board with its work, and our Critical Incident Response Program is working to support ALPA members and the families involved.”

    ALPA is the world's largest airline pilot union, representing more than 80,000 pilots in North America.

  3. Some flights are no longer cancelledpublished at 13:56 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from LaGuardia Airport

    A flight board at the airportImage source, Sakshi Venkatraman / BBC

    Passengers have been constantly checking the flight board, which up until this point has displayed every single flight as cancelled.

    That’s changed now, with a few flights displaying departure times at noon and 14:00 local time.

    It’s unclear how that will work given that the airport is only slated to re-open at 14:00 (18:00 GMT). Security and baggage services are still shuttered.

    The people that I’ve talked to say they are preparing to be here all day.

  4. 'It's scary... it could have been one of us,' traveller sayspublished at 13:47 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from LaGuardia Airport

    A young woman in a black jacket sits on the ground beside a suitcase.Image source, Sakshi Venkatraman / BBC
    Image caption,

    Katie Rojas says she finished a whole movie on her plane before they told passengers to evacuate.

    It’s been a long night for Katie Rojas, 26, whose flight to Chicago was on the runway and ready to depart when the Air Canada incident grounded all planes.

    “It tried taking off twice and both times literally stopped in its tracks,” she tells me, adding that after two and a half hours of waiting onboard, pilots announced that the plane was being evacuated.

    “They said there was a smell coming from the plane. I don’t know if that was just something they were saying.”

    Once she deboarded and got back to the terminal, Rojas saw swarms of emergency vehicles in the area. She learned about the accident online later.

    United Airlines re-booked her on a flight for 07:00 today, which was also cancelled. Now she has been re-booked again for a 15:20 flight, but security is closed and there’s no way to check her bags.

    She has been camped out on the floor of the airport now for 12 hours, just waiting to get home.

    “It’s scary,” she said of the accident. “You never know if it could have been one of us.”

  5. Flights resume at Newark Liberty International Airport after separate incidentpublished at 13:25 GMT

    Flights have now resumed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, one of the three major airports servicing New York City, following a temporary pause due to an unrelated incident.

    An earlier advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the "ground stop" closure was due to a "tower evacuation", with reports of a burning smell coming from an elevator about 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT).

    The advisory was removed from the FAA's website by 09:00 local time.

    The pause put further strain on New York's transport connections, with two of the city's three major airports temporarily out of action at the same time.

    Travellers had already faced hours-long airport security queues in recent days due to an ongoing partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.

  6. 'We were 100 metres away - it was like the plane got cut in half'published at 13:19 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from LaGuardia Airport

    Two boys sit on the floor
    Image caption,

    Leo and Diego

    Leo Medina, 23, was on the tarmac expecting to take off to Miami last night when he looked out the window and saw the collision that killed two pilots on an Air Canada plane.

    “We were literally like 100 meters away,” says Medina, who is from Chile but working in the US for a few months. “It was like the plane got cut in half.”

    He adds: “At first I was like 'what’s happening, I don’t get it' and then there were a lot of ambulances and stuff.”

    Medina says his flight, which was about to take off, had to return to the gate. He and his friend Diego Chavarría have now been waiting in the airport for 12 hours, sleeping on the floor on a bed of jackets.

    “We’ve just been trying to make it work, sleeping,” Medina says. “Starbucks is the only place that’s open.”

    He’s anxious, he says, especially after witnessing the accident, but his flight has been rescheduled to 2:30 in the afternoon and he says he still hopes to make it to Miami.

  7. New images show destruction at scene of crashpublished at 12:56 GMT

    The full extent of damage to an Air Canada Express plane and a firefighting vehicle has been made clearer by daylight images of the crash.

    Some of the latest pictures from the scene show debris hanging from the nose of the plane, while the emergency vehicle involved in the crash lies a few metres away on its side.

    The damaged plane and crashed vehicle on the tarmac at LaGuardia AirportImage source, AFP via Getty Images
    The nose of an Air Canada plane visibly damagedImage source, Reuters
    An emergency vehicle lies on its side surrounded by debrisImage source, AFP via Getty Images
  8. 'When I heard about the accident I was worried,' says passenger stranded at LaGuardiapublished at 12:37 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from LaGuardia Airport

    Travelling to the US from South Korea, Ja Hyun tells me the flight cancellations have left her with no idea what to do next.

    She has been at the airport for several hours now trying to fly to Chicago for business. Her original flight was supposed to depart at 07:00 local time (11:00 GMT), but it was cancelled. She was then placed on a 10:00 flight which was also cancelled.

    "When I heard about the accident I was worried," she tells me.

    I asked what she’s going to do now. "I’m not sure," she replies.

  9. Flights paused at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport in separate incidentpublished at 12:34 GMT

    Across New York, flights have also been temporarily paused at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

    An advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration said the "ground stop" closure was due to a "tower evacuation", with reports of a burning smell coming from an elevator around 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT).

    The pause will put further strain on New York's transport connections, with two of the city's three major airports now out of action. John F. Kennedy International Airport remains open as usual.

    It comes as travellers have faced hours-long airport security queues in recent days as a partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security continues.

  10. Swift actions of emergency services saved lives, says New York City Mayorpublished at 12:23 GMT

    Zohran MamdaniImage source, AFP via Getty Images

    Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani says he has "been briefed on the tragic collision" at LaGuardia Airport.

    "I am grateful to our first responders, whose swift actions saved lives," he says.

    He adds that the National Transportation Safety Board "is investigating the incident, and the City is in close contact with federal, state, and local partners".

    New York Governor Kathy Hochul calls the incident "heartbreaking". She adds: "Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected."


  11. 'Our prayers are with the families impacted,' says US transport secretarypublished at 12:11 GMT

    Sean DuffyImage source, Getty Images

    We've just heard from US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, who says that his "prayers this morning are with the families impacted by the ground collision at LaGuardia".

    He confirms some of the information given by the Port Authority this morning, and adds that "at least 2 Port Authority firefighters sustained serious injuries".

    "We will continue to work closely with the National Transportation Safety Board and share additional updates as soon as possible," Duffy adds.

  12. No queues, no cars outside, no movement: LaGuardia airport is truly shutpublished at 12:06 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from LaGuardia Airport

    A woman looking at a board at LaGuardia Airport.
    Image caption,

    A board at the Air Canada terminal shows all flights cancelled

    I’m at LaGuardia Airport's Terminal B, where on a typical day several Air Canada flights arrive and depart.

    Today, it’s chaos.

    A board shows that every departing flight this morning has been cancelled. Confused passengers are huddled on benches or sleeping on the floor. Many have small children with them.

    Some people are on the phone desperately trying to sort out their travel plans. Others are just waiting in hope that the airport opens back up.

    LaGuardia is no stranger to flight delays, but this is another level. Nothing is moving. There are no lines, no cars outside, and there are hardly any airline personnel to direct people.

    The airport is truly shut for the moment.

    An empty set of self-service check in terminals at LaGuardia Airport.
  13. Firefighting vehicle involved in collision was responding to 'odour' issue on separate aircraftpublished at 11:58 GMT

    Debris from the upturned vehicle surrounded by emergency vehiclesImage source, Reuters

    As we've been reporting, the Air Canada plane collided with a vehicle that was responding to "a separate incident" on Runway 4 of LaGuardia Airport.

    We've heard some more detail about this separate incident from Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia.

    The "vehicle was responding to another aircraft, operated by United, that had reported an issue with odour," according to Garcia.

    She later said that the "a pilot, who had had multiple attempts at take-off, requested support. They were responding to that request."

  14. Air Canada plane collision - a timelinepublished at 11:36 GMT

    Freya Scott-Turner
    Live reporter

    Kathryn Garcia stands at a podium saying Port AuthorityImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Port Authority Chief Executive Kathryn Garcia holds a press conference

    Officials are still piecing together what caused an Air Canada Express plane to crash into a vehicle on the tarmac of one of the United States' busiest airports.

    Here's a look back at how it unfolded:

    22:12 ET (02:12 GMT): Air Canada flight AC8646 departs Montreal, Canada, over two hours late, according to tracking website FlightAware.

    "Minutes before" 23:40: A Port Authority rescue and firefighter vehicle is called to a separate issue on a plane at LaGuardia Airport in New York, that had "requested support".

    At approximately 23:40: The plane collides with the firefighter vehicle on the ground while landing at LaGuardia.

    23:40: Emergency services "immediately responded".

    03:09: LaGuardia Airport says that the "airport is currently closed" due to the incident.

    At around 03:30: The "first portion" of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) - the investigation team - arrives.

    04:48: Port Authority Chief Executive Kathryn Garcia holds a press conference, confirming that two Air Canada pilots have been killed, and nine people remain in hospital.

    Looking ahead:

    14:00: Officials say this is the earliest time that LaGuardia Airport could reopen, as the investigation is still currently under way on site.

  15. Emergency workers at scene of crash, as runway cordoned-offpublished at 10:59 GMT

    LaGuardia Airport remains closed while officials investigate the cause of the collision.

    Pictures show emergency workers at the cordoned-off site, with officials directing traffic away from the airport.

    Passengers were earlier pictured exiting the airport, with Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia saying most had now left.

    Two FDNY staff stand by an emergency response tent sent up on the tarmacImage source, Getty Images
    Two passengers walk with suitcases along the tarmacImage source, Getty Images
    A man in a high-vis jacket redirects trafficImage source, Getty Images
    Firefighters walk past the cordon at LaGuardia AirportImage source, Getty Images
  16. Have you been affected? Get in touchpublished at 10:36 GMT

    Your Voice banner in graffiti font

    Were you on board Air Canada flight AC8646? Have your travel plans been affected by the closure of LaGuardia Airport?

    If it is safe to do so, you can get in touch in the following ways:

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    In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

  17. What you need to know about LaGuardia, one of the busiest US airportspublished at 10:22 GMT

    LaGuardia Airport sits in the East Elmhurst area of Queens, the easternmost borough in New York City.

    It's one of the busiest airports in the United States, with over 32 million passengers passing through in the last 12 months.

    While the airport primarily caters for domestic flights, it offers some international destinations including to Canada and the Caribbean.

    In 2015, an $8bn (£6bn) project to redevelop the airport launched, with 18 new gates and a new concourse opening in 2018.

    An aerial (satellite) view of LaGuardia Airport in New York. Key details shown: A highlighted runway labelled Runway 4 with a yellow path indicating the plane’s movement. A circled point more than halfway up the runway marks the location of the collision with the firefighting vehicle. A small inset map of the United States highlights New York’s location. A scale in the bottom right shows distance (200m / 1,000 ft).
  18. All flights cancelled or delayed at LaGuardia Airportpublished at 10:02 GMT

    Travellers are shown sleeping on the ground inside the terminal at LaGuardia Airport, surrounded by suitcases.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Stranded travellers sleep on the ground at New York's LaGuardia Airport

    All arrivals and departures from LaGuardia Airport have been cancelled or delayed until further notice.

    The airport's closure affects hundreds of flights, with carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Air Canada.

    Airport authorities have said LaGuardia will be closed until at least 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

    A small number of flights scheduled to depart on Monday morning were listed as delayed, rather than cancelled.

    The full list of cancellations and delays can be found on LaGuardia Airport's website, external.

    A screenshot of the airport's online departures board showing all flights cancelled or delayed.Image source, LaGuardia Airport
    Image caption,

    LaGuardia Airport's online departures board shows a long list of cancellations

  19. Investigation under waypublished at 09:40 GMT

    We have just heard from Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia, who said an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will look at all aspects of "exactly what went on during the crash".

    Responding to media questions, Garcia gave a couple of specifics that the NTSB will look at, including:

    • The speed the plane was moving when it collided with the vehicle
    • The staffing of the air traffic control tower at the time
    • If anybody was ejected from the aircraft
  20. Two pilots killed in LaGuardia Airport crash - what's the latest?published at 09:24 GMT

    An Air Canada aircraft is shown on the tarmac, with its destroyed nose pointing upwards.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    The Air Canada CRJ 900 aircraft suffered significant damage in the collision, which killed two pilots.

    Two pilots have been confirmed dead after an Air Canada plane collided with a firefighting vehicle at New York's La Guardia Airport.

    The plane, carrying 72 passengers and four crew, was travelling about 24mph after arriving from Montreal on Sunday evening, local time.

    Forty-one passengers and crew were taken to hospital, along with two officers who were in the ground vehicle; 32 are now out of hospital, but some others have "serious injuries".

    The New York City Fire Department told people to "expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays and emergency personnel near LaGuardia Airport".

    Kathryn Garcia, the Port Authority Executive Director, said the airport to be closed "until at least 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT)" to facilitate an investigation.

    An aerial (satellite) view of LaGuardia Airport in New York. Key details shown: A highlighted runway labelled Runway 4 with a yellow path indicating the plane’s movement. A circled point more than halfway up the runway marks the location of the collision with the firefighting vehicle. A small inset map of the United States highlights New York’s location. A scale in the bottom right shows distance (200m / 1,000 ft).